Birendra Kaur

Birendra Kaur, a devout Sikh, a social and religious activist, writer and outstanding academician, was born on 27th August 1956 at Ludhiana, Punjab, India. She was a brilliant student in school and college and always obtained high positions in her exams. She ended her education with M.Sc. (Honors) (1978), M.Phil. (Zoology) (1982), Ph.D. (Entomology, Zoology) (1984) all from Panjab University, Chandigarh, lndia. She worked as Senior Lecturer, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh from 1991 to 2004. During that period, she had the professional membership of Environment Society, and Sexual Harassment & Grievance Cell, SGGS College. She has been actively serving the community through her writings and participation in numerous seminars & symposia. She has authored two books Hail Hair and On Sikh Identity. She has also compiled articles/ editorials written by her father Dr Kharak Singh: Turn of the Century – Sikh Concerns & Responses.

In addition, she has published numerous research papers and articles on contemporary Sikh issues. Presently, she is a member of Institute of Sikh Studies; and Executive Committee Member, International Sikh Confederation [ISC], Chandigarh, and Member of Religious Affairs Advisory Council, ISC, Chandigarh. She has served as President of Institute of Sikh Studies and Associate Editor of its quarterly journal, Abstracts of Sikh Studies. In the course of these associations, she held an Interfaith Meeting (Dialogue of Scriptures) in collaboration with an international organization from South Korea [HWPL]; also, participated in their meetings at Delhi; Co-authored articles for UNESCO & Tudor Rose publications: Agree to Differ & A Better World; Organized conferences in collaboration with International Sikh Confederation on Panthic issues. She is also the settler of Dr Kharak Singh Trust [www.drkharaksingh. org] which deals with issues of public interest, in general, and Sikh issues, in particular, with the concerned authorities, from time to time. For example, the issue of Independent Identity of Sikhs is one such crucial issue. Birendra Kaur filed an SLP in the Supreme Court of India related to the issue of Independent Identity of Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. It has been admitted as CA [civil appeal] No 4188 of 2014. The valuable services which Birendra Kaur has rendered to the Sikh community show her interest and dedication and make her a real role model in this regard. Her email id is: birendrakaur@yahoo.com.